Chapter 28 - Blanchet the White Cat

“Blanchet?” At Azriel’s call, the cat came to her and rubbed its forehead against her hand. 

As she stroked its chin, Blanchet narrowed its eyes and purred. As they stayed that way, the spirit she saw yesterday flew toward her carrying a cup on its head. Without looking inside, she could tell what it was. “It must be chocolate.” The spirit lightly sparkled and handed over the cup. It was full of warmed up chocolate. Azriel reminisced about her memory of drinking it for the first time. ‘I was as good as dead but Rhema rescued me and gave me a new life… and he asked me to learn magic back then,’ ‘Then why did he tell me not to learn magic now, even saying that he will kill me if I become a wizard?,’ ‘Will I know if I remember the rest of my memory? What happened when I was ten?’

“A, A, Azriel?”

She heard someone’s’ crawling voice from the next bed. Maylie, who got up from the bed, was looking at the spirit that was floating before her, holding on to her blanket. “Wh, wh, what’s that? Wh, wh, where are we?”

“Maylie! Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

Azriel put down the cup carelessly and rushed to Maylie. Maylie looked stupefied. “No, I feel fine. No, maybe my mental state is not fine. I’m seeing things…”

“No, you’re not seeing things. It’s a spirit.”

“S, spirit? The one from the old story? The things that live in a lake, mess with people, and make contracts with wizards? That thing is that spirit? Really? A real spirit?” Maylie, with her face flushed, spoke quickly.

“I don’t know much about the details either.” Since Rhema said it was a spirit, it was a spirit. Azriel did not know much about it other than that. She might have known more in the past, but her memory had not fully recovered yet. She put on a vague smile and looked back at the spirit. “Hey, where is Rhema?” The spirit spinned around, sprinkling light around. It was an incomprehensible behavior for the girls. As they were watching it perplexedly, they heard someone’s voice from another direction.

“Rhema said he had something to do and left. He put me here instead.”

A strange woman was perching on Azriel’s bed. It was a fuzzy, long-haired woman in her late 20s. Her solid and slender figure and sharp look from the raised tail of the eyes made her look like a mercenary or a warrior. It was more so due to her simple attire with a shirt and leather pants. She narrowed her blue eyes and murmured. “I don’t like to imitate humans very much, but this way, it should be easier to talk to you.”

“…Who are you?”

“You recognized me before, but I guess not all of your memories are back. It’s been a long time, Azriel.” No way. Azriel asked with a doubt. “Excuse me Miss, are you… Blanchet?”

“Yes, what’s with the honorifics? Don’t be awkward.”

“Weren’t you… a cat?”

“That’s my familiar spiritual form designated by Rhema. I am much bigger and fabulous in my original form.” Blanchet smiled sweetly and approached Azriel. She lifted up Azriel and placed her on the bed. “I thought you’ve grown so much, but why are you so light? You should eat well from now on, yeah.” She handed her a cup of chocolate again. “Drink this for now. You like chocolates, don’t you?” She then handed another cup to Maylie who had turned pale and frozen. “Here, you should drink some, too.”

Maylie took the cup with trembling hands. Azriel could understand her friend’s heart. Since Azriel was still confused whether it was a dream or reality, Maylie, who had just woken up, would be much more confused. Not caring about the girls’ condition, Blanchet fell on her back on the bed. “Rhema told me to guard you until he comes back.”

“Where did he go?”

“I don’t know. He doesn’t always tell where he’s off to. As you know well enough, oh, you must not remember such things yet.”

“…”

“In fact, Noir wanted to come, yeah, but I thought he will only try to fool around when you are still disturbed.”

“Does Noir… transform into a human just like you, Blanchet?”

“Yes, since we are of the same kind, you know. But it’s not that we transform into humans. We only mimic them.” Azriel could not tell the difference between transforming and mimicking. She stopped thinking too much and drank the chocolate first. As the sweet and warm liquid spread inside the body, it seemed to calm her to some degree. Still lying on the bed, Blanchet stared at her and smiled faintly just like a cat. “I know humans grow quickly, but this is so interesting. You were a tiny human cub… You’ve grown so beautifully, yeah.” 

“Miss… you saw me till I was ten, right?”

“Yeah, I told you to lose the honorifics. You were so quiet and cute when you were young. I thought you were cute only because you were a human cub and you’d turn gross when you grow up, but… You know what, can I pat you a little bit?” Blanchet crawled on the bed and came close to her. Azriel almost got choked.